Countries lining up to obtain Sinovac COVID-19 vaccines

Countries, including Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand and Nigeria, are cooperating with China in procuring or rolling out COVID-19 vaccines produced by the Chinese pharmaceutical company Sinovac, according to the South China Morning Post.

Indonesia said it would launch a mass vaccination program with the CoronaVac made by Sinovac on Jan 13, with Indonesian President Joko Widodo first in line to receive the vaccine.

Chito Sta Romana, Manila's envoy to China, said on Monday that Chinese vaccine makers Sinopharm and Sinovac would apply this week for emergency use authorization with the Philippines' Food and Drug Administration, the newspaper reports.

The Philippines aims to finalize negotiations with Sinovac Biotech to acquire 25 million doses of its vaccine for delivery by March.

Thailand is expecting to get 200,000 doses of CoronaVac next month, 800,000 in March and another 1 million in April.

Meanwhile, Nigeria is in talks to procure China-made coronavirus vaccines, Geoffrey Onyeama, the West African country's foreign minister, said during Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi's visit on Tuesday.

"We are also engaging with China to help with regards to access to vaccines for our people," Onyeama said while briefing the media on discussions with Wang.